Apparatus for perforating sheet material



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ATTO NEY Oct. 22, 1940. B. EATON APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Sept. 16, 1958 Oct. 22, 1940. L. B. EATON 2,218,674

A]?PARATUS FOR PERFORATING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Sept. 16, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 52M; 03. 2% BY TTORN Y Oct. 22, 1940. 5 EATON 2,218,674

' APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING SHEET MATERIAL Filed se p. '16, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet s I E f6 INVENTOR M 3. am

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 22, 1940 PATENT OFFICE PERFORATING snEE'r MATERIAL Lewis B. Eaton, Quincy, Mass.,"assignor to Pneu- APPARATUS FOR matic Scale Corporation,

Limited, Quincy,

Mass., a, corporation of Massachusetts Application September 16, 1938, Serial No 230,280

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for perforating sheet material.

The invention has for an object to provide novel and highly efficient apparatus for perforating fibrous sheet material, such as parchment paper or the like, and which is simple in construction and efficient in operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel and eificient apparatus for making a filled container, such as atea or coffee bag, wherein the container comprises a perforate paper or similar fibrous sheet.

With these general objects in view, and such others as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the apparatus for perforating sheet material; in the container making apparatus, and in the various structures, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings in which the preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the present invention as embodied in a tea bagging machine for producing tea bags of the so-called pouch type; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the essential elements of the perforating device of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a pouch type tea bag produced on the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a modified form of the invention as embodied in a machine for producing tea bags of the so-called pillow type, and Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a modification.

In general, the present invention aims to provide a novel and highly efficient perforating device capable of forming perforations in fibrous material such as parchment paper or the like in a rapid and superior manner.

In accordancewith the present invention, the perforations are formed in the paper by first forming indentations or protuberances in the paper which are preferably formed by running a web of paper or like fibrous material between an embossing or indenting roller and a resilient roller such as a rubber roller and thereafter grinding off the indentations by means of an abrasive wheel, preferably while th paper is still in contact with the embossing or indenting roller. In this manner the accumulation of cut-out portions of the web and the consequent dimculties heretofore encountered by such accumulation in the usual punch and die operation heretofore employed for perforating are entirely eliminated. In the preferred apparatus, provision is preferably made for brushing off the accumulation of dust on the surface of the paper, caused by the grinding operation and the dust thus removed may be carried away in any suitable manner, such as by air suction means.

In the preferred form of the invention, the perforating device may be embodied in and operate in timed relation to a tea bagging machine for forming and filling the parchment paper tea bags wherein the perforations are provided in the tea bag to permit the tea to be extracted in the usual manner.

Referring now to the drawings, see Fig. 1, one embodiment of the perforating device of the present invention, indicated generally at H], is therein illustrated as embodied in an automatic tea bagging machine which may and preferably will comprise in general construction and mode of operation the machine forming the subject matter of the United States patent to Ralph N. Doble No. 1,726,060, August 27, 1929, for forming and filling pouch type tea bags of the form illustrated in Fig. 5. Only suflicient portions of the machine illustrated in the Doble patent have been illustrated herein as will enable the features of the present invention to be understood.

The tea bagging machine of the Doble patent illustrated herein, see Fig. l, is designed to withdraw a predetermined length of bag forming material from a supply thereof by means of a pair of driven feed rolls l2, l4 and to out off a definite length of the material thus withdrawn by means of shears IS. The material thus cut oil is positioned upon a supporting plate indicated at It, over an opening or die formed therein, and under a forming and filling tube 20. Provision is made for reciprocating the tube vertically to thereby force the material down through the die and form it into a pouch bag, and during such movement provision is made for depositing a predetermined quantity of the tea or other commodity down through the tube 20 and into the interior of the formed bag. As the pouch bag is formed and filled in the manner described at the bag forming and filling station, provision is made for inserting it between gripping jaws 22 which are automatically closed about the mouth of the bag and operate to support the bag during the succeeding operations performed thereon, including the trimming of the surplus material from the'mouth portion of the bag, the application of a closure for the mouth of the bag and of a handle comprising preferably a string attached to the mouth of the bag-and a tag attached to the string. The specific details of the parts thus far described and their mode of operation may and preferably will comprise those illustrated in the Doble patent and those of the commercial automatic tea bagging machines at present being manufactured and sold by the Pneumatic Scale Corporation, Limited, of Norfolk Downs, Massachusetts, and which machines have been well known in the trade.

In accordance with the present invention, provision is made in the illustrated machine for automatically perforating the bag forming material immediately prior to the web being received between the bite of the feed rolls I2, I4. As herein shown, a web 24 of the bag forming material is unwound from a supply roll 26 by a pair of driven rolls comprising a feed roller 28 and a roller 30 made of rubber or other yieldable material. The web of paper thus unwound is passed through the perforating device I0, comprising the indenting roller 32 cooperating with the rubber roller 30, and an abrasive wheel 34 also cooperating with the indenting roller 32. Thereafter, the perforated web is passed over an idler roll 36, between driven brushes 38, 40 and thence between driven feed rollers 42, 44. Since the Doble tea bagging machine is intermittent in its operation and the perforating device is designed to operate continuously, a suitable take-up device is provided comprising a weighted roller 46, mounted for vertical axial movement in a slot 48 provided in a supporting bracket 50. The web 24 is then passed over an idler roll 52 and between the intermittently driven feed rolls I2, I4 of the tea bagging machine. In operation, the perforating device advances a sufficient length of th perforated material in the interval between successive withdrawals by the intermittently operated feed rolls I2, I4 to permit the feed rolls to advance the required length of material to be cut off by the shears I6 to form the container blank.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the indenting roller 32 as illustrated in detail in Fig. 4, comprises a drum 54 provided with a series of raised portions, preferably metal pins 56 radially arranged and equidistantly spaced about the periphery of the drum. In operation the pins 56 engage the web 24 and in cooperation with the rubber roller 30 form indentations 58 in the web, the rubber roller tending to press the web flat into contact with the face of the drum and between the upstanding pins 56. The indenting device is designed to merely form the raised portions or indentations 58 in the web, the pins 56 not being long enough nor sharp enough to break through the paper. While the indented paper web is held in a taut condition against the face of the drum, the abrasive wheel 34 engages the raised portions 58 and grinds them ofi flush with the tops of the pins 56, thus forming the perforations 60 in the web. Provision is made for adjusting the rubber roller 30 and the abrasive roller 34 with relation to the indenting drum 32 and as herein shown, each roller 30,34 is provided with a movable bearing member 62 slidably mounted in the machine frame and adapted to be adjusted toward or from the indenting drum 32 by means of adjusting screws 64.

As hereinbefore stated, the perforating device is preferably driven from and in timed relation to the tea bagging machine and as herein shown, the main cam shaft 66 of the tea bagging machine is provided with a sprocket 68 which is operatively connected by a chain 10 to a sprocket aaraon 12 fast on a short shaft I4. A gear 16 also fast on the shaft I4 cooperates with a gear 13 on an idler stud 30 for the purpose of changing the direction of rotation and a sprocket 62 formed integrally with the gear I3 is connected by a chain 34 to a sprocket 36 fast on the shaft 33. The feed roller 23, rubber roller 30 and the indenting drum 32 are herein shown as geared together by the cooperating gears 90, 32, 94, see Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The feed rollers 42, 44 are driven from the shaft 63 by a chain 06 running over sprockets 98, I00. The sprocket I is fixed to the lower feed roll shaft I02, which is geared to the upper feed roll 42 by gearing I04.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, the abrasive wheel 34 is independently driven by a motor I06 through the pulleys I03, H0, and belt I I2. The brushes 30, 40, which are geared together by the gearing I I4, are also driven from the motor I06 through pulleys H6, H8 and belt I20. The independent drive for the abrasive wheel and the brushes permits these elements to be driven at a relatively higher speed than the speed at which the web of material travels in order to more efliciently perform the grinding and brushing operations. Provision is preferably made for removing the dust caused by the grinding operation and as illustrated herein, air suction means may be employed, comprising an air suction pump I22 operatively connected to an air chamber formed by an angle member I24 disposed adjacent the grinding wheel 34 and also connected to a suction chamber formed by a guard I26 enclosing the brushes 36, 40. In operation, the dust laden air is drawn through the pipes I26, I30, and deposited into an exhaust chamber I32 through the exhaust pipe I34.

From the description thus far of the embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in Fig. 1, it will be observed that the web of material 24 is unwound from the roll 26 and passed between the driven rollers 30, 32, which cooperate to form the indentations in the web and that the web is maintained in intimate contact with the indenting roller 32 until it has passed the abrasive wheel 34. It will also be observed that the feed rollers 42, 44 operated to maintain the web in a taut condition to maintain the latter in snug engagement with the indenting roller 32 during the grinding operation and that the abrasive wheel 34 is mounted to be capable of adjustment with relation to the indenting roller so that it will grind off the tops of the indentations to form the perforations in the web. Although the illustrated embodiment of the invention shows the rubber roller 30 and the indenting drum 32 geared together through the gearing 92, 94, yet, in practice, satisfactory results have been obtained by driving only the indenting wheel and permitting the rubber roller to be rotated by the indenting wheel through the yielding engagement of the rubber roller with the pins 56 during the indenting operation. It will be apparent that when the perforating device is used alone without being arranged to feed directly into the tea bagging or other machine, suitable winding apparatus may be provided to roll up the perforated material and that the winding apparatus may displace the feed rollers 42, 44 to keep the web taut against the drum 32 during the grinding operation.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7, a modified form of the present perforating apparatus is therein shown as embodied in a tea bagging machine for forming a pillow type tea container and except as to details hereinafter described, the machine therein illustrated may comprise the machine illustrated and described in the United States patent to John T. Dalton, No. 1,688,268, October 16, 1928 to which reference may be made, only sufficient portions of such machine being herein shown as will enable the present modification of the apparatus to be understood.

In general the tea bagging machine illustrated and described in the Dalton patent is continuous in operation and is designed to continuously withdraw'a web of bag forming material from a supply thereof, the web being of sufficient width to permit folding or doubling thereof along its median longitudinal line to form the two sides of the bag. The strip of bag forming material is continuously advanced through the machine and operatively supported by travelling grippers I50 while the various operations are performed thereon and after being folded by the mechanism indicated generally at I52, separate charges of the tea or other commodity are deposited between the folded sides of the web by the filling mechanism I54, as the web is advanced. The separate charges of the material, deposited at intervals in the length of the folded web, are confined to the area of the web onto which they are deposited and the longitudinal free edges are then sewed together to form a tube of the material. After the tube has thus been formed the web is severed to form bag sections and the transverse severed edges are then stitched together to form the pillow type container.

In the modified embodiment of the apparatus, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and '1, the perforating device indicated generally at I56 may comprise the rubber roller I58, the cooperating indenting drum I 60 provided with the pins I6I and the abrasive wheel I62, and provision is made for advancing the perforated web I64 in timed relation to the operation of the tea bagging machine, between the driven feed rollers I66, I68. As herein shown, the bag forming material is unwound from a supply roll I10 thereof and after passing through the perforating device and between the feed rollers I66, I68, the perforated web passes over an idler roll I12 and around a weighted tensioning or take-up roller I14 mounted for vertical axial movement in the bracket I15 to form a short loop I16 of the material before passing into the folding mechanism I52. The take-up roller I14 permits the web to adjust itself to the intake of the material as it is advanced by the travelling grippers I50.

In the illustrated modification of the invention, the perforating device is driven continuously from the tea bagging machine and as herein shown, the main driving shaft 244 is geared to the shaft 31 through cooperating gears I11, I19. The shaft 31 preferably rotates one revolution per cycle of operation and is shown as operatively connected to the indenting drum I60 through connections including cooperating bevel gears I80, I82 and sprockets I84, I86 connected by a chain I88. The indenting drum I60 and the rubber roller I58 are geared together by gears I90, I92 and the upper feeding roll I66 is driven from the indenting roller through sprockets I84, I96 and chain I98. The upper and lower feed rollers are geared together by gearing indicated at 200.

Provision is made for brushing the dust off the surface of the perforated web after passing the abrasive wheel and as herein shown, by a driven brush 202 in cooperation with a vertical plate 204 engages the web as it passes from the indenting drum and abrasive wheel to the feed for collecting the dust caused by the grindingoperation and'as herein shown, the area adjacent the abrasive wheel I62 and the brush 202 is enclosed to formair suction chambers which are operatively connected to the air'suction pump 220 by pipes 222, 224 which discharge the dust laden air, into the exhaust chamber 226. Provision is also made for adjusting the rubber roller I58 and the abrasive. wheel I62 with relation to the indentingroller by means of the adjustable bearings 228.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been herein illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claims andthat the perforating device has utility by itself for producing perforations in paper to be used for other purposes.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Mechanism for perforating sheet material having, in combination, a rotatable drum having a plurality of spaced and radially arranged pins, a yieldable roller cooperating with said drum and said pins to produce indentations in sheet material fed therebetween and an abrasive wheel cooperating with said pins for grinding off said indentations to produce perforations, and means for removing the dust caused by said abrading operation, including, a rotary brush, mounted to engage the material, and air suction means for carrying away the dust.

2. Mechanism for perforating sheet material, in combination, a cylindrical member provided with a relatively large number of radially spaced apart raised portions, a highly resilient cylindrical member cooperating therewith to produce imperforate indentations in sheet material fed therebetween by forcing the sheet over and around said raised portions, and an abrasive member for performing the entire perforating operation by cooperating with said raised portions for grinding off the imperi'orate indentations in the sheet while the same is supported upon said raised portions.

LEWIS B. EATON. 

